visita a la dentista

So I thought that I should get my teeth cleaned since I haven't done that in almost 6 months.  I found the dentist's office without difficulty, but was surprised that the walled-off garage-like door was closed with a lock on it.  (All stores, buildings, shops, houses have practically a fortress-like security fence, wall, gate, enclosure with multiple locks on them to keep out thieves.)  Before I could get my cell phone out of my bra (which is where I have kept my phone since I arrived, as instructed, to prevent a thief from taking it) a woman arrived with a key to unlock the lock the door and roll it up to allow entry.  She was the dentist.  Of course there is no dental hygienist.  I never saw her wash her hands, but she did put on surgical gloves.  She said something to the effect that she had never seen as beautiful teeth as mine, which I will pass on to Dr. Kleederman, my prosthodontist at home.  Since my teeth are so beautiful and I do such a good job maintaining them, I only needed a brief cleaning!  I believe that I was in the dental chair for a maximum of 20 minutes.  (My appointment was at 10:00 AM & I was home by 10:45 AM, which included time to walk to the bus stop, take the bus, & walk home.)  The cleaning cost $25.  One of the best parts of the appointment was that the music that was playing on the radio included my favorite Latino singer, Marco Antonio Solis!

Walking to the bus stop after the limpieza (cleaning), hit home that I did not get my teeth cleaned in the Berkshires.  The brief walk was down a street that I had not previously walked on, so I took note of my surroundings more than usual.  There were dozens of vendors calling out to try to sell all kinds of fruits and vegetables and shrimp and fish, which were not over ice as would be the case at home.  Very colorful.

Both the bus ride to and from the dentist appointment were also noteworthy.  It is not uncommon for someone to get on the buses to try to sell whatever wares s/he has.  They typically announce to all the passengers what they are selling, will distribute whatever it is to anyone and everyone who will take the item and then they give a dissertation on why the passengers should buy the item.  If you don't want to buy the item, you just give it back to the vendor.  I do believe that I understood what the vendors on each bus going & coming to the dentist were saying.  The first one was selling, what looking like brownies, which were wrapped in plastic.  He said that if you ate 3 brownies you would be able to speak English and if you ate 4 you would be able to speak French.  I don't know why you need more for French.  I didn't buy any brownies because I already know how to speak English and I don't need to work on my rusty French.  Perhaps if he had Spanish-speaking brownies I would have bought some.  On the bus ride back home the vendor was selling a little trinket that looked like something someone might hang as a Christmas tree ornament.  What I understood from this vendor's speech was that this trinket helps with alcohol and drug addiction.  Since I have neither, I did not buy this trinket.

An interesting morning!!

One more unrelated piece of information is that I recently figured out how to listen to WAMC (NPR for those outside of the Berkshires reading this) on my computer.  I have decided that I don't have to struggle to listen in Spanish to the limited local news on the t.v. in my room.  Listening to WAMC is great!  Although I only have time for snippets of information, I can now feed my NPR addiction & have a better idea what's going on in the Berkshires & the world.  Maybe I'll pass that on during the upcoming WAMC fund drive!

Mindo, etc.

Last Thursday through Sunday, I was in Mindo, which is about 2 1/2 hours NW of Quito for the mid-service meeting of WorldTeach (WT).  It was an opportunity for all of the WT teachers (now 36, originally 42) to reconnect, get updated, learn some new things, reflect, and prepare for the 2nd half of our time in Ecuador.  We're not quite at halftime, but very close.

Mindo is in a cloud forest; thus it rains a lot & it did!  I wasn't as impressed with the town as I thought I would be, but most of the time that I was there was meeting time.  Perhaps it's more interesting outside of the small town, where there are things like rafting & going on a canopy tour.  I did go to the orchid garden & a hummingbird sanctuary.  The highlight for me was swimming 50 lengths in the pool where we stayed.

Instead of taking a 10-12 hour bus ride back to Cuenca from Quito, I had bought a round-trip plane ticket from Cuenca to Quito & had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with Nancy, the woman with whom I stayed when I was in Quito for the month of September.  We are good buddies & it was fun reconnecting with her again.

I have now been back in Cuenca for 3 days and my classes are going VERY well.  My students are wonderful.  I do believe that they are having fun while learning.

A Visit to the Home of one of my ESL students from Pittsfield

This past Saturday I had the honor and pleasure of meeting some of the family members of one of my students from home.  My former student & I have been emailing & it took some doing to make the connection with his mother, who lives in Giron, about 40 minutes from Cuenca.  It has been 10 years since he has seen his mother, who shared with me, with tears streaming down her face, how hard it is for her to have him so far away and for so long.  She was very gracious and generous.  Almost as soon as we met each other she said that I would need boots because where she lives the ground is very wet.  We did buy boots & I learned that what she meant was that we would be climbing a hill that was wet from rain, had mud, and lots of cow pies.  I went up the hill with her when she moved her cows to a new grazing place.  She and her daughter, who had her baby strapped to her back, cooked cuy (guinea pig), which I have now eaten 4 times since I have been here.  It was a very special day for me and I believe a meaningful one for her, as I was able to talk to her about her son, whom she misses dearly.

English classes

Above is the sign on the door to my classroom.  Snazzy!

I have completed the first week of classes of the 2nd cycle & have many more students than I had the first time around: 12 students in my morning class & 18 in my night class.  Many of them are very advanced.  I hope that I can meet their expectations.

Back in Cuenca & a bit more about the rainforest

Returned to Cuenca last night without difficulty.  I might even be able to say that I have come home!  Words I never thought I would be capable of saying.  So far no new students have signed up for my class (I will now be teaching Avanzado I [Advanced I]) that starts on Monday, but there is still time.  Hopefully my former students will come back, but I would like to have more students.

I neglected to say when writing about the Amazon Rainforest, especially for my friends & family members who don't like bugs, that the Rainforest is filled with critters big & small.  I slept with a mosquito net.  One time when I got up in the middle of the night, I saw a large, white-ish lizard climbing the wall of the room where I was sleeping.  When I got back to bed I could hear it slogging around, which was a bit nerve-wracking.  You just have to ignore the insects, spiders, large beetles, thousands of ants--large & small, etc.  The leaf-cutter ants are amazing.  I've seen them before, but find then to be just as fascinating as the first time.  They walk in long lines, almost single file, each one carrying a large piece of a leaf on its back.  It's like watching a green moving trail as they go through the jungle.  And the army ants are a bit scary.  They also travel in a line, like a group of soldiers going to battle.  Most of these little creatures are not interested in people, but I would never want to directly confront them to see what they might do if they felt threatened.

Sarah and Rachel´s visit part II and more........

Seems like ages ago, but Sarah & I reconvened in Ingapirca on Dec. 26.  They hiked there and I took the bus.  They sort of stumbled upon me by chance.  They had a wonderful time on their hike and seemed to feel that they missed little when they were out of commission with their stomach ailments .  We went to the Incan ruins in Ingapirca, which were very interesting.

Took the bus on Dec. 27 to Cuenca and they got to see where I live.

 In fact, my host family, as planned, had the 3 of us over for dinner that night.  I am happy to report that Sarah and Rachel were both very favorably impressed with Cuenca.

On December 28, Rachel´s birthday, we went to Giron, to hike to the waterfalls there.  We got a late start, which limited us to only climbing to 1 of the 3 waterfalls.  The rain didn´t help either, but it was pretty.

 Rachel chose, for her birthday, to eat at an Indian restaurant.  We invited friends with whom we had eaten out in Riobamba.  A nice time.  On Dec. 29 we went to the Banco Central Museo, saw more ruins, walked around, were tourists, etc.  We returned to Quito on Dec. 30.  Rachel immediately took off for her additional week of hiking on her own.  Sarah & I had a nice afternoon.  We walked to Mariscal, aka Gringolandia, had a drink & met Nancy for dinner.

I had already said so long to Rachel & had to do the same hasta luego to Sarah early in the morning of Dec. 31 as I was going off to the jungle.  Sarah did her own thing that day & celebrated the New Year with Nancy.

All over the country for many days before New Years Eve, they sell masks and large dolls, like asexual mannequins--on practically every street corner & in many shops.  People dress up their ´dolls´ to remember people from the previous year (some of the dolls are of the current president [President Correa or President Obama]) & then burn them in the streets as a way of ending the old year.

I missed this tradition as I was in the jungle, but understand that Sarah witnessed this in Quito.  

I was at a fabulous lodge in the rainforest (Arajuno Jungle Lodge) that I had to get to by boat as there´s no other way to get there.

Was there with friends & 1 young couple.  We were in bed by about 10 PM on New Years Eve, but it was great starting the New Year in the jungle.  I love it there.  The lodge owner, Tom Larson said ¨If the Galapagos Islands are known as the living laboratory of evolution, then the Amazon Rainforest must be the boiling pot of evolution.¨ I love that quote.  He is so right.  The rainforest fascinates me as all the living organisms-plants and animals- are interdependent and live in such harmony with each other.  It is a very special place.  On New Years Day we hiked, actually bush whacked (Tom had a machete), our way through the jungle and saw the amazing flora and fauna that grow there.  The hike was a challenge as it rained (rainforest, so to be expected!), was slippery, steep, and of course hot & humid.

The next day, January 2, we went to a place where injured animals, some of whom are endangered species, are kept to recover from injuries (many from people) and hopefully re-enter their native habitats, but many stay there as they cannot or do not know how to live on their own.  In the afternoon we tubed down the river, which was more work than I expected it to be, but still fun. 

And today, January 3, I am back in Quito, at Nancy´s house.  Tomorrow I return to Cuenca & then am back to teaching a new cycle.  This has been an unbelievable holiday season.  The best gift of all was the time that I spent with my daughters.